There has been considerable debate over the ways in which children's early literacy skills develop over time. Using confirmatory multidimensional scaling (MDS) growth analysis, this paper directly tested the hypothesis of a cumulative trajectory versus a compensatory trajectory of development in early literacy skills among a group of 1233…

Grade retention has been the de facto policy for children with academic difficulties in many Latin American countries [Schiefelbein, E., & Wolff, L. (1992). "Repetition and inadequate achievement in Latin America's primary schools: a review of magnitudes, causes, relationships, and strategies." Washington, DC: World Bank.]. In Costa Rica, 14.9% of…

The main purpose of this study is to compare the differences in job satisfaction among public and private kindergarten school teachers in Cyprus. These comparisons take place from the perspectives of the teachers themselves and how they evaluate the working conditions in their own schools. More specifically, a series of three logistic regressions…

This 3-year longitudinal study examined how motivational tendencies, that is, task orientation and social dependence orientation, as well as cognitive-linguistic prerequisites of reading and math skills (i.e., phonological awareness, rapid naming, oral language comprehension skills, number sequence and basic arithmetic skills) measured in…

Using a new method to measure identity, we attempt to capture salient identities of young children developing into "good students." Using a nationally representative sample of American kindergarteners who advance to the first grade, derived from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, we examine identities based on socio-economic status, motor…